Gripper mechanism.



G. VAN MIDDLESWORTH.

GRIPPER MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED 00115, 1909.

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GRIPPER MEGHANISM.

APPLIUATION FILED OCT. 15, 1909.

Patented Mar. 15, 1910.

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G. VAN MIDDLESWORTH. GRIPPER. MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED 00115, 1909.

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CHARLES VAN MIDDLESWORTH, 0F BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO THE VANDYCK GRAVURE COMPANY, OF NEWYORK, N. Y.

GRIPPER MECHANISM.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented llItl. 15, 1910- Originalapplication filed November 23, 1908, Serial No. 464,093. Divided andthis application filed October 15,1909.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES VAN Mm- DLESWORTH, of Brooklyn, in thecounty of Kings, and in the State of New 'York, have invented a certainnew and useful Improvement in Gripper Mechanisms, (Case 13,) and dohereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescriptionthereof.

My invention relates to an improvement in gripping mechanisms forprinting presses, and especially to means for directing the end of asheet of paper or traveling web of paper invariably into the open jawsof the grippers.

This application is a division of my application now Patent No. 935,339,granted September 28th, 1909, for printing press attachments.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a side elevation of saidmechanism; Fig. 2 an endelevation of the same; and Fig. 3 is a plan viewthereof.

In the drawings 1 is a side frame located at each side of the machinefor supporting the 'arious parts thereof. Sheets of paper delivered fromany suitable mechanism are fed into guide-rollers 4 supported uponstationary arms 5 at the top of the machine. The sheets of paper afterbeing fed through the rollers 4 are received by gripping mechanismscarried upon a rotary frame 27 journaled at 28 to the side frames 1.

The rotary frame comprises a plurality of S-shaped arms 28 the outerturns of which are curved in a circular direction concentric with thejournals 28 of the frame. The rotary frame 27 further comprises two endmembers 29 situated upon the transverse shaft 30 which carries the frame27 which end members 29 are secured together by longitudinal bars 31extending from one end of the frame 27 to the other and situated onopposite sides of the end members 29. Near the ends of the end members29 I have located two shafts 32 which are movably carried in saidmembers. The shafts 32 carry a plurality of gripper fingers 33, the endsof which extend over the edges of the longitudinal bars 31. To each ofthe shafts 32 I also attach lever arms 34 carrying in their ends rollers35 which are designed to run over the surface of a stationary cam 36attached to the side frame 1. The rollers 35 are maintained in contactwith the cam Serial"1\To.522,751.

36 through the action of springs 37 attached at one end of the leverarms 34 and atthe other end to the end members 29. When the rollers arein contact with the cam 36 the gripper fingers 33 are raised so as to bein the position to receive a sheet of paper. hen, however, the rollers35 have passed beyond the cam 36 the fingers are adapted to be seateduponthe longitudinal bars 31 so as to firmly grip the sheet of paper.The said rollers 4 are driven by a belt 38 from any suitable source ofpower.

Attached to the shaft '30 there is a sprocket 41 which is connected by achain 39 to any suitable source of power for the purpose of driving therotary frame 27.

In order to insure that the paper will be received between the openingfingers 33 and against the longitudinal bar 31 cooperating therewith, Iprovide an automatic mechanism for projecting the edge of the sheet ofpaper into the teeth of the grippers. The same portion of the frames 1which carries the stationary arms 5, also supports at each side of thedevice an additional stationary arm 42, said arm 42 carrying therein amovable shaft 43, which shaft carries a series of fingers 44. Thesefingers 44 are supported within brackets 45, in which they may beadjusted by the movement of screws 46. The brackets 45 are alsoadjustable upon the shaft 43 by means of screws 47 passing through thebodies of the brackets. The finger 44 which is nearest to one end of theshaft 43 is projected into the path of movement of a pin 48 carried uponeach end of-one of the end members 29. The remaining fingers44 are setat a different angle, as shown in Fig. 1, so that when the firstmentioned finger 44 is moved by contact with the finger 48, theremaining fingers 44 are caused to project the free edge of the paperinto the jaws of the grippers.

In the operation of the device a strip of paper is fed into the machinebetween the rollers 4. The sheets of paper after passing through therollers 4, are grasped by the grippers 33, and having been carriedaround with the rotary frame 27, are deposited in the usual mannerbeneath the rotary frame 27, whence they are removed in any desired way.It will be observed that whenever the rollers 35 are in contact with thecam 36 the grippers will be in their open position. That is to say, whena roller 35 strikes the lower portion of the cam 36, the gripper arm 33connected therewith is raised so as to release the sheet of paper, andWhen the same roller reaches the upper portion of the cam 36, the finger33 attached thereto is raised in a similar manner to receive a new sheetof paper. As each set of grippers reaches the place where the free edgeof a sheet of paper is to be grasped, the pin 48 adjacent thereto comesinto contact with one of the fingers 44 so as to move the remainingfingers 4.4 downwardly and pr0- ject the sheet of paper into the jaws ofthe grippers. If it were not for the provision of some mechanism of thischaracter, the sheets of paper would not be always fed into the openjaws of the grippers.

IVhilo I have described my invention above in detail, I wish it to beunderstood that I consider my invention to be a broad one and capable ofmany changes and adaptations without departing from the spirit thereof.

I claim 1. In a device of the character described, a rotary frame,grippers carried by the same, an abutment also carried by the frame,means for directing the paper into the jaws of the grippers, comprisinga set of movable fingers, and an operating lever connected to saidfingers and adapted to cooperate with the abutment to move the same.

2. In a device of the character described, a rotary frame, gripperscarried by the same, an abutment also carried by the frame, means fordirecting the paper into the aws of the grippers, comprising a set ofreciprocable fingers, and an operating lever connected to said fingersand adapted to cooperate with tho abutment to move the same.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand.

CHARLES VAN MIDDLESWOR'IH.

Witnesses Gnonon B. PRINDLE, A. NEWCOMB.

